The Daily Drie Doring
This will be a co-written story with Meerkats over the current Drie Doring known today. The days aren't specific, just here for no real reason. Members Mist (VDF115) Dominant Female Captain Planet (VDM129) Dominant Male Ursli (VDM141) Marilyn (VDF144) Tanzania (VDF146) Tobermory (VDF149) Mohammed (VDM151) Wiley (VDM154) Saoirse (VDF155) Yallah (VDF156) Milk (VDM157) Tiger (VDM161) Patch (VDF162) Cookiecutter (VDF163) VDF166 (called Marble until formally named) Day 1 The sun is high over the land of the Kalahari Desert and at a burrow, a single head pokes out. Meet Mist, she's a meerkat and not only that, she has a very big job. Mist is the dominant female of a large group of meerkats called the Drie Doring, the group is one of the oldest mobs there is with a lot of history. Mist took dominance after her mother, Makonkie died. In meerkat society when the dominant female dies then usually the oldest daughter will take dominance, of course there are exceptions, but none of these applied to Mist. Mist wears the radio collar that helps the KMP track the Drie Doring's movements, she leads her family out each day to find food though sometimes they move to new burrows, but moving homes isn't quite a common occurence and as such the only thing they are being tracked is mainly digging. Mist is joined by a handsome young male, this is Captain Planet, he's the dominant male, but he is also Mist's son and can't mate with her, though he does do many of the duties of a male leader, such as sentry, scent-marking, and driving off intruders. The next two meerkats to surface is a male named Ursli and a female named Marilyn. Marilyn is Mist's oldest daughter but is also a good babysitter, but her position has her usually in line for evictions. Slowly the other meerkats come aboveground, including Mist's youngest daughter Marble. The family works on cleaning out their burrow before they line up to get some sunbathing then Mist leads them out. The Drie Doring have a good patch of land to forage on, good to support a growing group. Patch, one of the teenagers known by the reddish patch over her eye gets tired of digging, she decides to try stealing from somebody else. Unfortunately, her sister Cookiecutter wins this round and keeps her millipede. Patch looks around for another target Her brother, Tiger is much easier to steal from. Patch runs off with her prize. Stealing is just a fact of life in this hard drought. Marble knows this all too well. Both of her liter mates were taken by predators in recent months She's doing all she can to avoid the same fate. The Drie Doring have been expanding their territory recently, as are many other groups. The drought is pushing the boundries further than usual and fights are becoming more common as mobs fight for the same resources. The loss of their rivals, the Frisky mob, has in its own way been a gain as they have claimed a chunk of the land, the remaining part belongs to their rivals the Rascals. For Mist this has double meaning. On one paw she has 15 mouths to feed, on the other hand she has a higher chance of a rover joining the group. All her children are half-siblings mainly, Marilyn, Tobermory, and Tanzania are littermates, all are siblings, but half-siblings due to Mist having to use rovers to supply the numbers. Mist is hopeful to find a permanent mate to raise the group to the numbers of her mother Makonkie and grandmother Mabili, but she hasn't been successful in getting a man to stay, but Captain Planet does a good job of it at least. Satisfied with her easy steal from Tiger, Patch moves on to steal from Marble, scaring the tiny pup in the proccess and gulping the grub before the little one's eyes. Luckily, nurse Tobermory comes to Marble's aide and gives the pup the left over of the scorpion she had been eating. Patch is feeling confident and decides to steal from the big kat herself, Mist is cleaning a small millipede and Patch sneaks up, then steals it right from under her mother's nose. Mist is a bit surprised by she doesn't try getting the prize back. Unfortunately, Patch's glory is cut short when Cookiecutter muscles in. Cookiecutter is only slightly smaller than her sister, but she is one tough cookie and she gives Patch a taste of her own medicine and claims the remaining millipede for herself. Mist decides to move the group further to hopefully tone down some of Patch's energy, but unlike in the normal conditions, moving around doesn't mean easy access to prey, the drought is really causing pressure and in other groups there had been intense losses. The move has some relief, there is food here. Yallah and Milk take guard duty this time while the group digs at the new pastures. They are wary though, this is close to the Rascals' territory and the other group has been suffering from the drought as well. The group moves into the shade of some trees, their bellies half full but it's too hot to do much foraging now. Mist isn't interested in sleeping, she has romance on her mind. She is ready to mate once more and since no roving males has come to her, she'll go to them. A new group that is semi wild has moved in Mist discovered some old faces Her two older daughters Sereina and her sister Medleina, she hasn't seen them for two years since evicting them. She looks around but doesn't see their sister Salina, she most likely got unlucky. But Mist isn't looking for her old children, she wants to find a man and so she leaves. Back at the main group, Cookiecutter has pounced on Tiger, both then pounce on Patch and all three teenagers are playfighting. Marble tries to join in, after all she doesn't have any brothers or sisters her age to play with, but the three big kids ignore her. Captain Planet keeps a eye out for danger, he will act kind of like a second leader with his mother gone, males can't really lead, but occasionally they do sometimes fill in for the dominant female. Mist has discovered a man, Gooch the Rascals' new natel dominant male, the son of Ara. He is scent marking the Rascals patch with the group 100 yards away but not paying attention to their surroundings. Mist is very interested in this male and slips closer. When Gooch looks up he sees her, at first he is uncertain what to do, but finally he follows her into the bush. Three eyes witness the event; Mr. Glitter, Randy, and Mojito, they are puzzled and with no action going on at the Rascals they decide to go look for some action of their own, leaving the couple in private, the three boys head off in the direction of the sleeping Drie Doring. Captain Planet has fallen asleep on his post and Patch has annointed herself as sentry, but her inexperience shows through as she doesn't notice the three males, but Marilyn, Tanzania, and Saorise sure do and despite knowing the price, they can resist the rovers' charms. Mist finishes her date with Gooch, she most likely will be pregnant but she is reluctant to leave this male behind. Mist goes off and Gooch follows her. It seems that the Drie Doring Queen has found a king. Now if only she could keep her sons from him. Back at home, the rovers are gone. Captain Planet has gotten up and decides to rove, he leaves just in time for Mist and her new man return to the group, the Drie Doring instantly are focused by don't know what to do, the males want to chase him off but they smell their mother's scent on him. Captain Planet is already in the Rascals land so he won't help. Gooch walks around asserts his authority over the males, then scent marks Mist to show his claim to her. But the time the Drie Doring return home they have a new dominant male. Day 2 It is clear that Mist is pregnant, but also that her three daughters, Marilyn, Tanzania, and Saorise are expecting as well. This doesn't sit well with Mist who by law of meerkat standards has the sole right to breed. While she was away, the girls decided to play and the three females are facing being expelled from the group. For the younger members there is not much concerns. The three teenagers are still being hooligans, and Marble is trying to find a new niche to fit in. The young pup has survived on meager rations and was now able to feed by herself. Captain Planet was off roving again. He tried his luck at the Rascals, but was chased off by the new natal male Randy, but this time he has gotten lucky and mated with dominant female Sancerre. Two years at the top have made him big and strong. Randy is no match for him. Sancerre is pleased to have a new breeding partner and she quickly asserts herself over the remaining females. Humiliated by his defeat, Randy goes off with Mr. Glitter and Mojito. Nothing solves losing dominance like roving. At the Drie Doring Mist is on the eviction path, she won't tolerate any of the other females being pregnant for they could easily kill her pups. Marilyn is the first to go, then Tanzania, and finally Saorise. The evictees are chased off and end up bumping into the three Rascals males. This can be a chance they the six meerkats run off. The Drie Doring are left with eleven meerkats but have a new dominant twelve meerkats, but has a new dominant male at their head. Mist will give birth in about three weeks to her next litter and it seems like the dreaded drought might finally end, storm clouds are rolling in as the group forage and that night the storms bathes the Kalahari and continues throughout the morning. When the storm passes, the Drie Doring come above ground to a beautiful sight. Sunlight reflecting off dripping vegitation, the Kalahari buffet has finally opened and hopefully the hard times will end and the group will be able to grow. Even with all the food, Patch still is interested in stealing, it does require less energy compared to digging, but she does manage to dig for herself mainly this time. Cookiecutter has made a impressive catch. A small frog is not a usual meerkat delicacy, the rain drove it out of hiding and now it will fill Cookiecutter's hungry belly, she is not going to let anyone steal it from her either and she darts behind a bush to eat her slimy prey in peace. Mist is celebrating herself by cleaning a large millipede. The group moves to some camel thorn trees to take advantage of the caterpillars. It seems the Drie Doring's fortunes have changed for the better and now they can relax with full bellies and peace of mind. The teenagers are especially interested in the trees and like to do their own stunts. Patch decides to show her brother and sister a thing or two and climbs higher than a meerkat feels comfortable going, she is rewarded with some caterpillars but then loses her balance and falls. It's a bad fall and she has hurt her front paw, her spunky nature seems to have faded from this humiliating and painful lesson. The group finishes eating while Patch goes under a bush, her ways have caught up to her and hopefully she will be more resilient in the future. The group moves off to forage on other delicacies and Patch is forced the limp after them, she can barely forage and she isn't quick enough to steal, it'll be a long recovery. Day 3 Three weeks have passed and Mist had gaven birth to three pups. Patch's paw had healed fine and she was back to normal...almost normal, another milestone had been reached...Patch, Tiger, and Cookiecutter had made it to their one year old birthday, they were now adult meerkats. But this milestone has risks and uncertainies. Tiger will most likely start roving with the other adult males, but Patch and Cookiecutter have a more...risky position. They will now start attracting the attention of roving males and can get pregnant...and evicted, they must be careful. The group heads out foraging leaving Cookiecutter and Patch behind to babysit the pups. Neither sister really cares much about it, but they are about to get some visitors. While Patch is scratching her ear, Cookiecutter is on guard...when she spots two figures. The two babysitters turn to focus on it, it's meerkats, two male meerkats. They are Harrison and Hazwell Van Helsing, they roved further than usual and have bumped into the Drie Doring's land and went right to their doorstep. They brought along old dad, Titan for a roving lesson. They move on the babysitters, but they play hard to get. They like the males, but neither girl really gets it yet. It seems that their sister Tobermory has decided to come back and check on them. She's a experienced meerkat and as such her little sisters can use her help in this current situation. Tobermory sees the rovers and begins scent marking. Though Mist isn't pregnant and the pups no longer need to fear the threat of being killed, having more expecting mothers would mean more mouths to feed. The Van Helsing rovers slink closer now, on all sides of the burrow. Hazwell makes one wrong mob and is charged by all three females he beats a hasty exit but doesn't go far. The males reorganize and continue the operation, being subtler and the females have a hard time tracking them. Tobermory has an idea. Maybe the rovers will leave if she mates with one of them. She approaches Titan behind a bush. However, her idea backfires because the Drie Doring is approaching from that direction and Milk spots them and with the other males gives chase, all three males disperse quickly. Mist is not happy and she shows her displeasure. Tobermory tries to apologize for her act for she really thought she was doing it for a good purpose, but Mist can no longer accept such idle behavior from her daughters, the group had to be able to handle the amount of meerkats that needs the resources and Mist has to assert her status or if jealous, one of her daughters might oust her like how many dominant females before her. The gentle babysiter is sent packing with the group on her tail but luckily the younger females avoid it, they didn't touch the males but Mist sees this as a good time to remind all her girls who is the top kat and she scent marks all the females. Marilyn, Tanzania, Saorise, and Yallah see this as a opportunity to try to keep on Mist's good side for the oldest females are always under risk of getting pregnant. Patch, Cookiecutter, and Tiger play with Marbles who is now old enough to enjoy their games. It seems Tobermory's eviction was nothing much but a warning, she is allowed back into the family fold once Mist is certain that everyone knows their place, but it's a risky move and rovers will certainly have Mist wary. Day 4 The Drie Doring are tense now. The pups are now foraging on their own (with the occasional help aka steal) and Mist is once again pregnant. But so too is Marilyn, Tanzania, and Tobermory, this has made Mist very unhappy and it's shown from the constant attacks she gives the pregnant females. For Cookiecutter and Patch they have been spared the rovers' intentions but seeing their mother in this mood has both girls frightened and doing everything to keep out of Mist's way. They have both recieved warnings, but they are only mildly aggressive. The same can not be said for Marilyn, Tanzania, and Tobermory. Mist's warnings are more brutal and violent. Tobermory gives birth first. But in a bolt hole. With her sisters and mother pregnant the chance is high that one or perhaps all the litters will be killed and Tobermory doesn't want that to happen so she's taking a stab at hiding her pups...but it makes it harder to find food for nobody will be able to watch the babies while she goes eat. Marilyn and Tanzania are working hard to stay on Mist's good side but both are fearful of her for Mist will be the last to give birth and she might very well eliminate their pups, but it seems like the worry might be for nothing and all three mothers end up giving birth to a mix litter of pups, not a single pup is killed and all three mothers strive to care for the little ones. For Tobermory and her two pups there's nobody to watch and pamper her babies except for herself. Though Milk and Wiley who are returning from a roving trip stop by and with them investigating the new pups she manages to grab herself a quick bite before returning. Wiley has left and only Milk shows signs of staying behind. Another form apears. It's Cookiecutter. She has decided to forage alone to keep away from her sister and ends up bumping into the two meerkats. The foragers are gone and perhaps Tobermory can benefit from the mix litter. Tentatively the new mother picks up one pup with Milk taking the other and with Cookiecutter keeping watch the trio run back to the burrow. Yallah and Saorise don't even look up and Tobermory is able to safety deposit her newborn pups with the other litters. While Cookiecutter has proven helpful in Tobermory's predicament, Patch has been trying some forbidden fruit. Hazwell has got seperated from his father and brother and was trailing the group when Patch spotted him. With Mist intent on eating and Gooch not paying attention, this chance is too good for her to resist. Unfortunately the first meerkat Patch bumps into is her mother and Mist can easily smell the Van Helsing male on her daughter's fur and Patch finds herself being attacked visciously by Mist and some of the females who wish to appeal to their mother's good faith. It's not a straight forward eviction, but Patch will now have to watch herself and she now has her very first eviction scar on her tail base that has changed her from being a normal, famous little girl into facing a unknown future. Patch has indeed grown up and now she would be facing the challenges of a grown female meerkat. Her patch and fame won't be able to save her either though she would be easier to find if she is indeed ever evicted. When the group returns home that evening, Mist leads the females underground to tend to the pups. Patch slinks home and sits at the edge of the burrow, gloomy and not interesting in playfighting with her siblings. Her tail base is sore and her mother's wrath had scared her She waited for the last meerkat to go to bad and then goes down herself. Mist was nursing the pups in another chamber with the other females. Patch curls up in a lone chamber away from the huddle of the family. Marbles joins her later on during the night to give her some company. The next morning the group is back to business and the litters are left behind while the foragers head out. Patch is keeping to the edge of the group in a form of self-exile, she's near enough to hear any alarm calls but is far enough to simmer in her shame. Cookiecutter is puzzled to why her once energetic sister was now acting strange. She didn't know what happened yesterday and as she couldn't ask her sister what was wrong she could only look at her then focus on foraging. Poor Patch can only watch the group, uncertain of her own future and place and the fate of her unborn pups. The famed little meerkat needed hope and luck with fate smiling down on her in order to see the troubles through and it might prove enough to help. Day 5 The burrow is quiet as Patch surfaces, notably slimmer than she was before. Tucked belowground is her newborn pups that she has just finished giving birth to. She is hungry and is hoping somebody stayed behind to watch them but when she comes out of the darkness there is nobody for the entire group has already headed out. Well, she's not alone for long. The older pups pop up to join her. Cookiecutter turns up within an hour. She sniffs at Patch briefly then sits down to watch the pups and Patch decides it's safe to go foraging and so she leaves...unaware of the reason of why Cookiecutter is back. Cookiebutter isn't back to babysit...she's retrieving the pups because Mist has decided to move burrows. Going belowground Cookiecutter sees what her sister has done...a large litter of six pups, unusual for a first time mother but a grim prospect of what is going to happen...none of these pups will be able to survive a long journey and two meerkats couldn't move all six. It's a saddening situation but there is nothing Cookiecutter can do but gather Mist, Marilyn, Tobermory, and Tanzania's pups and lead them out to catch up with the moving party. Patch will have to choose between her pups...or her family and this time sisterly bonding can't help. Patch returns to the burrow to find Cookiecutter and the older pups gone and frantic she goes to check on her own pups but finds them all safe but hungry. She feeds and grooms them then cuddles the little bundles, unaware of her plight and that she might have to abandon them all. An hour later, Cookiecutter's close bond with Patch draws her back to her sister's burrow. With her sister back, Patch knows what must be done. She heads below and collects just one pup. As Cookiecutter leading the way carrying Patch's little pup in mouth, the two females head to the new burrow. There is nothing that Pach can do to help her other babies. They'll need a miracle to survive. Not long after the females and pup have gone,Another mob, Furry Massive discovers Patch's burrow. This mob has just three meerkats, Mist's two eldest daughters and a wild male. They start digging at the burow but then stop when the wild male spots another meerkat...a old ghost from the past...It's Lucifer. The ginger meerkat has been missing since Patch and her litter were pups but now the unique meerkat has returned and he has witnessed the entire event and is ready to defend his little relatives from his older sisters. The wild male easily is overpowered and runs off leaving brother against two sisters with five pups belowground. It's a struggle but Lucifer manages to send both females running off, leaving himself victorious...but only if Patch comes back...and she does. Despite having one pup Patch couldn't help but return to see what had befallen her pups, she's not alone either. Yallah and Wiley have followed her and all three are surprised to see their orange brother. For the pups this can be a good thing, Patch, Lucifer, Wiley, and Yallah each take another pup and they hurry off to return the litter to the others. In the chaos nobody notices that one little pup is left behind and this time nobody returns to collect her...by the next morning she is dead. For the five others pup the future looks good at least, so long as Mist decides to let her keep them. For now, Mist takes little notice of her new grandpups. Lucifer has earned himself a hero's welcome from the queen herself. Last time Mist saw her ginger son, he was very thin and weak from a mystory ilness. Lucifer has pulled through and is healthier than ever. Gooch eyes him warily but if Mist approves then he supposes so does here. While most of the group is distracted by Lucifer's return, Cookiecutter has snuck away and is getting some romantic time with Harrison Van Helsing, her sister's example seems to have been wiped away by the sight of this handsome male and she ends up falling into temptation. Day 6 Cookiecutter had a lucky break when she mated with Harrison. Though Mist quickly showed to be pregnant her mother aborted her litter and as such Cookiecutter was able to get away with it and had gave birth to two little girl pups; Gwynneth and Uklah. Today the two little pups get to meet their family. While Gwynneth has some spunk in her, Uklah is content to stay close to mom, though her grandmother is interesting as well. Mist lets the pup sniff her, even though she didn't produce a litter she doesn't mind this time letting Cookiecutter get away with it. Patch dotes on the two new pups. Her five pups are growing up fast. The pups are becoming quite a handful and give their helpers a run around. Lucifer has a little apprentice in Sitches who constantly follows him around. Rag Doll is quite close to Tobermory. Buttons, Needle, and Puppet are more content to watch and learn, though Buttons is jealous of how his brother gets most of uncle Lucifer's attention. Little Puppet is the runt of the litter and as such he has more trouble then the others, though the idea of two smaller pups makes him feel like a big boy. But Patch loves all of her little ones and she will make sure that they get the same amount of love and attention. Mist is pregnant again. Neither Patch nor Cookiecutter will be evicted this time around since their pups still need them. The older females won't be so lucky. Mist has started evicting... Marilyn, Tobermory, and Tanzania had been evicted and tragically only two return. Their oldest sister is found dead of unknown causes. Her loss is mourn by the group as she was a good and loving meerkat and was a brilliant babysitter. Cookiecutter and Patch have been lucky to avoid eviction, but it seems Mist is determined to get rid of her oldest daughters and Tobermory and Tanzania are once more evicted each time Mist is pregnant...this time however, neither female has been spotted. Today Patch, Cookiecutter, and Lucifer are babsitting Mist's latest litter who are still belowground. It is generally a lazy day but then they get a visitor. A strange meerkat is approaching the group, a rover? No, it's a female. The female is Naggapatzi, the dominant female of the Toyota mob. Why a dominant female would be here is odd but can have many reasons, the three sitters are on edge. Is she alone? It turns out not quite, Firefly is with her, following the older female like a lost puppy dog. Naggapatzi is on a mission. She wants a suitable mate and the Toyota needs numbers. The sight of the babysitting burrow fills this roving female with hope. She is very interested with the sight of Lucifer whose ginger coat sets him apart from all other males. Lucifer tries to be stoic but the sight is too much for his urges and he runs off, leaving his baby sisters to watch the pups alone. The first female he finds is Firefly, but he won't say no to appetizers. She isn't really the one who has his eye, it's Naggapatzi who might be the lucky one today. With Lucifer off doing his 'roving duty' the two sisters go back to watching the burrow. Eagle-eyed Cookiecutter is the one who spots movement and has two on guard. Two females meerkats and one male is approaching the group...It's the small Furry Massive, led by Medleina. They haven't been doing good and the two females were hoping to rejoin the group. But a charge from Cookiecutter changes their plans and send the two girls running right into Naggapatzi and Lucifer. The other male pauses and scans the two babysitters with interest but a display of scent marking deters him and he goes off to find Lucifer waiting. It looks like the Furry Massive have grown and Naggapatzi is taking full power. The Toyota are now just the males who had been in the Honey Badgers while Naggapatzi and Lucifer have setted as the dominant pair of the Furry Massive. Firefly, Sereina, and Medleina submit to their leader and the wild male does the same. The group decides to move away before the Drie Doring returns and before they go, Lucifer pauses and looks back one last time...before he departs. This may seem harsh, but his birth group is no place for a grown male like Lucifer. His time has come. Even though it was nice to return to his birth mob and see his mother and siblings, now is the perfect chance for Lucifer to fill the shoes of a dominant male. It's lonely without Lucifer around and without a man around the two sisters can be entice by rovers, provided if any decide to show up. The two sisters are dutiful sitters but this is boring and they decide to play. It hasn't been done since they were teenagers, but playfighting is a good way to bond. But, they fail to notice their old flames lurking in the shadows